The hurricane-force 91mph winds were recorded today at Berry Head near Torbay in Devon. The area was deluged by one-and-a-half inches of rain in less than 24 hours.

And the Met Office say more storms are on the way which will lead to further floods and the EA has issued nine severe flood warnings across the south west.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicky Maxey said: “There will be a brief respite on Sunday with more wet and windy weather next week - but we don’t yet know if it will be as extreme.”

Today the Prime Minister took a swipe at Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith over his suggestion that Britain will have to choose whether to save “town or country” from future flooding.

Mr Cameron said there would be “no restrictions” on help for stricken areas, declaring: “There shouldn’t be a false choice between protecting the town and protecting people in the countryside.”

He added: “What we need to see, and where I think the debate is now rightly going, is that from the late 1990s – far too long – the agency believed it was wrong to dredge.

“Those of us with rural constituencies affected by flooding have seen the effectiveness of some dredging that has taken place.”

He also announced an extra £100million would be spent to tackle flooding next year.

Mr Cameron’s blast came as he chaired a Cobra emergency committee meeting today in place of his Environment Secretary.

Owen Paterson has been forced to pull out of leading Whitehall’s response to the floods to have emergency surgery on a detached retina.

He attended the meeting but will be replaced by Eric Pickles at today’s Cobra meeting.

Mr Cameron said: “I have seen the shocking pictures of the destroyed train line in Dawlish and I am determined that while it is out of action, the public get a proper alternative service and a solution is found to fix it, as soon as possible. The Government will continue to hold emergency Cobra meetings to ensure these problems are sorted out.

“Dredging will start as soon as the waters have receded enough for it to be safe to do so.”

However, Labour leader Ed Miliband said: “Many of those affected feel the Government’s response has been slow and that more could have been done sooner.”

Dawlish resident Robert Parker said the storm was “like the end of the world”.

He said: “It was like an earthquake. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’ve been in some terrible storms in the North Sea, but last night was just a force of nature.”

Around 2,500 homes in the south west of England were still without power last night as engineers battled to restore power.

Met Office forecasters were warning of further severe weather to come as another band of heavy rain is due to sweep across southern Britain tomorrow into Friday.

A separate area of low pressure is then expected to bring more rain and very strong winds on Saturday.

Andy Page, Met Office chief meteorologist, said: “The unsettled weather will continue over the coming days with heavy rain across the southern half of Britain on Thursday evening into Friday, and that will be quickly followed by another storm moving in early on Saturday.

“This will bring the risk of flooding and damaging winds bringing down trees to cause disruption to travel and power networks.”

Devon and Cornwall Police warned residents to stay away from coastal areas as it dealt with a large number of calls relating to road debris, damage to property and flooding.

Exmouth, Sidmouth and Seaton seafronts were closed, and the high tides flooded properties in Exmouth, Lympstone, Starcross and Topsham, the authority said.

On the seafront at Torcross, homes were evacuated after the high tide smashed the fronts of four properties, forcing nine people to leave their homes.

The Environment Agency said that since Friday around 328 homes have been flooded while more than 122,600 have been protected.

Voice of the Mirror: Derailed by cuts

The spectacular washing away of the railway track at Dawlish in Devon, leaving metal rails suspended in the air, demands a superhuman rebuilding effort.

Most of Devon and Cornwall are now cut off and they must not be left to the fate of the Somerset Levels, where the authorities dawdled when urgent action and money were needed.

The Government is not responsible for the stormy weather and much of the flooding, yet the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition is to blame for an often slow, incompetent response.

The Prime Minister has finally come up with £100million to help. But this havoc raises big questions about austerity when vital maintenance workers are facing redundancy and rivers are not dredged to drain flood water.